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Coffee County emergency services authority approves handbook-based comp time for administrative closings
Summary
The Coffee County Emergency Services Authority voted Feb. 20 to follow the county employee handbook and grant compensatory time to emergency services staff for county administrative closings, with payroll instructed to implement the change in the next pay period.
The Coffee County Emergency Services Authority voted on Feb. 20, 2025, to implement compensatory time for emergency services personnel during county administrative closings by following the existing Coffee County Employee Handbook.
The decision resolves a conflict that surfaced when payroll said the department had not been receiving comp time despite handbook language that assigns comp hours to emergency personnel when the mayor orders an administrative closing. Authority members agreed it would be administratively simpler to add a comp-time column to existing leave tracking rather than initiate a handbook revision.
Members discussed practical effects and next steps. Staff explained that historically the department’s employees had not received comp time for prior administrative closings and that payroll had flagged the discrepancy. Board members noted that paying comp time would require coverage (paying other personnel to work) when employees take comp hours, and that the change would affect only those on duty or otherwise eligible under the handbook.
The authority instructed staff to follow the handbook and add a comp-time column to the department’s leave tracking so the hours could be recorded and paid in the next pay period. Members also noted that if the change required a different policy or additional budgetary action, it could be taken up later by the full commission or by the policy-and-procedure process.
No specific dollar figure was adopted at the meeting; members said the change would be straight time (not overtime) and that any formal budget adjustments would be processed through budget and finance if required.
The authority’s action is intended to make comp hours available for emergency-services personnel on administrative closing days (for example, during major snow events) consistent with the county handbook. The board said it will monitor implementation and bring any disputes or needed formal policy changes to the appropriate county bodies.
